Chapter 53: Over One Thousand Yuan

"It's much better than what's in the province, little sister. Just this piece alone, at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, would cost at least this much." Liu Mei directly held up one finger.

An Yinan shook her head, "I do this for convenience, and I don't have time to run back and forth. Even though leaving them with Liu Meijie only earns me a yuan or two, it gives me peace of mind."

If someone else said that, Liu Mei truly wouldn't believe it.

But feeling the fabric of the clothes and seeing the novel styles, she believed it!

"There are a few more pieces. Let me see. If the styles and fabrics are all this good, I'll take them all," Liu Mei said without stalling.

An Yinan opened the newspaper bundles one by one and laid each piece flat on the kang. Liu Mei's eyes lit up.

Before, when she saw the men's coats, she thought the styles were very novel, but when she saw the women's coats, she was absolutely obsessed.

This time there were three bright red Woolen Coats, as well as light gray Woolen Coats to match the dark gray ones, and royal blue Woolen Coats to match the ink-blue ones.

Except for that one ink-blue men's coat, the remaining ten were all for women. Only three were short, and the other seven were long. Every single coat, whether in quality or design, had no flaws.

Liu Mei calculated it to herself and frowned, "Little sister, there are quite a lot of items this time. I can't come up with that much right now. Can I give you eight hundred first and the remaining three hundred and twenty-nine yuan next time?"

Liu Mei felt a bit embarrassed. She had been the one to say she could handle it, but she hadn't done the math. Once calculated, these clothes and the one hundred Square Scarves came to one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine yuan.

And that was the discounted price the little sister gave her.

"Sister, are you home?" Just then, a familiar voice came from outside the door; it was Liu Mei's cousin, Liu Yun.

Seeing the main gate bolted from the inside, Liu Yun knew her cousin was home, so she knocked on the door again.

Liu Mei was surprised, "Why did Liu Yun come at this time?"

An Yinan rubbed her brow, "I had an urgent matter at the hospital and happened to run into Sister Liu Yun, so I revealed a little bit."

As the two spoke, Liu Mei opened the bolt and let Liu Yun hurry into the courtyard.

"Why did you go to the hospital? Are you sick?" She looked closely at An Yinan's face, and since she didn't look sick, she asked.

An Yinan waved her hand, "One of my distant aunts is sick, and I went to visit her."

Once Liu Mei heard this, she lost interest in asking further and hurried to pull the two into the house.

"This fabric is just too good." Liu Yun saw the design and cut at a glance, then reached out to touch the fabric, her eyes brightening.

"Sister, you can't hog these all to yourself. You have to spare me at least two pieces." Liu Yun didn't stand on ceremony and patted the small bag on her back, "I brought money."

Hearing that Liu Yun had brought money, Liu Mei hurriedly pulled her to the side and whispered for a minute.

Liu Yun took four hundred yuan directly out of her backpack and handed it to Liu Mei.

Liu Mei took the rest of the money out of the cabinet, counted out one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine yuan, and handed it to An Yinan all at once.

"Little sister, I didn't have enough money before, but now with my cousin's help, it's all paid off." Liu Mei breathed a sigh of relief; she had been afraid the little sister would misunderstand and think she was taking advantage of her.

An Yinan was caught between laughter and tears, but she very much appreciated Liu Mei's way of handling things.

This way, they could cooperate for a long time without affecting one another.

"Sister Liu Mei, Sister Liu Yun, please check for any quality issues. If there are none, I still have to go see my aunt." An Yinan looked at her watch; she had an appointment with Chen Shao to take an exam at the Xinhua Bookstore at three o'clock.

Liu Mei waved her hand, "Go on, hurry. When you come back, stop by the State-run Restaurant. Before I left, I had Ershu make one hundred meat buns. Someone brought two deer the day before yesterday, so these are Deer Meat Buns. I took the liberty of having Ershu make them for you, though Sister Liu Mei can't afford to treat you to these." Sister Liu Mei smiled, knowing full well that An Yinan was a little foodie who would stock up on Steamed Buns and buns every time she came to the State-run Restaurant, so she had taken the initiative to order them for her; otherwise, this bit of venison would have been long gone.

Venison was a highly nourishing food, "That's wonderful, Sister Liu Mei is still thinking of me." An Yinan had just received over a thousand yuan, so would she care about the cost of a few buns?

"By the way, can you have your godmother mail more Square Scarves next time? If I hadn't been holding them back, at least four hundred more would have been sold." Liu Mei shook her head with a wry smile. She only shared these Square Scarves with the sisters around her, but she couldn't keep up with everyone's high demand.

"I don't care about the others, I'm taking my fifty pieces today!" Once Liu Yun heard this, she immediately spotted the familiar cloth bag. She opened it and saw it was indeed Square Scarves, and the patterns were different from last time.

Why did she have a feeling of both love and hate for this little sister now?

"I'll do my best," An Yinan smiled, truly not knowing how to commit.

"Sigh, little sister, do you have bright red bedsheets? Can you get them?" Liu Yun stopped An Yinan, who was about to leave.

Bright red bedsheets... did she want velvet? Silk? Pure cotton? Linen? Gauze?

*Ahem*, there were too many types of bright red, how about pure cotton?

"It's possible. Sister should know that as soon as bright red arrives at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, it gets snatched up immediately, especially full-sized bedsheets. They exist, but the price isn't cheap." Recalling the scene of people snatching up cloth last time, she still felt a lingering fear.

"Naturally, little sister, if you know the price, just tell me."

"At least 15 yuan." An Yinan calculated the fabric and gave an estimated price.

It was quite a bit more expensive than what was on the market, but thinking about using them as gifts, paying more for better quality would make her look better. Thinking of this, Liu Yun nodded, "That's fine. Little sister, whenever you come to the County, just bring them to my cousin. I'll give you the money now."

Liu Yun took out another fifteen yuan and hurriedly handed it to An Yinan.

An Yinan wanted to decline, thinking they could just exchange money and goods next time, but Liu Mei pressed her hand down, "Little sister, after so many interactions, I trust you. If Liu Yun hadn't come over just now, I know you would have agreed to take eight hundred first; I saw you nod."

"We'll have plenty of dealings in the future, no need to be so polite." Liu Mei was the one most deeply moved. After several months of contact, the little sister had always been very polite. Although she worked at the State-run Restaurant and could only make things a bit more convenient when it came to buying food, the clothes the little sister brought her—whether in quality, grade, or pattern and style—were the best of the best, and the prices were even lower than the market rate. Every little detail couldn't be faked; the little sister was someone absolutely worth befriending.

"Alright then, I won't be polite. Next time I come to the County, I'll definitely bring them," An Yinan promised.

Having been delayed at Sister Liu Mei's house for half an hour, she walked quickly toward the Xinhua Bookstore. When she reached a deserted small grove, she ducked in and put two jin of dried red dates and one jin of brown sugar into her cloth bag. She also took out twenty bottles of iron supplements, tore off the labels, and packed them into another bag.